Ex-Methacton High School teacher sentenced for inappropriate relationship with teenage girl

COURTHOUSE — Saying a Collegeville man violated the trust placed in him as an educator, a judge sent the former Methacton High School teacher to jail for engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a teenage girl.

“You owed her a duty of nurture and care and guidance, not take advantage of her…,” Montgomery County Senior Judge William T. Nicholas scolded Sean Michael McCullough as he sentenced McCullough to three-to-23-months in the county jail for his inappropriate relationship, which authorities alleged included “sex chats,” with the 17-year-old girl.

The judge, accepting a sentencing agreement proposed by Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman and defense lawyer Stephen M. Geday, also ordered McCullough, of the 100 block of Hunsicker Drive, to complete three years’ probation following parole, meaning McCullough will be under court supervision for about five years.

McCullough, who turns 44 on Saturday, showed no emotion as he was handcuffed by sheriff’s deputies for the trip to jail. A married father of two, McCullough turned down the chance to address the courtroom.

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Noting that McCullough’s guilty plea to charges of disseminating obscene materials to a minor and corruption of a minor essentially ends his teaching career, Nicholas added, “Rightly so. You have no business teaching children.”

Cauffman, who leads the district attorney’s sex crimes prosecution unit, sought prison time against McCullough. Standard state sentencing guidelines allowed for a minimum sentence of anywhere between probation and nine months in jail.

When authorities interviewed McCullough he admitted that he and the girl engaged in improper teacher/student activity, “including sex chats through emails, text messages and Facebook messages, mutual masturbation, exchanging of nude photographs, kissing and fondling each other” while the girl was 17, according to the arrest affidavit.

The girl’s mother told the judge McCullough “snowed” her family and others, making them believe he had good intentions as a teacher. She said she was “blindsided” when she learned about McCullough’s contact with her daughter.

“He robbed (the victim) of a normal first relationship,” the girl’s mother said during an eloquent speech to the judge. “This event will have a lasting effect on my family.”

But the victim, now a young woman of 20, appeared to disagree with her mother, telling the judge she did not consider herself to be a victim and that she loved McCullough, calling him a “brilliant” teacher, someone she looked up to.

“The slightest suggestion he was grooming me is ridiculous. I did not get lured,” the young woman said. “I know what we had was real.”

Responding to the victim’s testimony, the judge said she was “misguided” and that McCullough’s conduct was criminal.

“Despite the fact (she) doesn’t see herself as a victim, she is a victim,” Nicholas said. “Eventually, I hope you come to see that this conduct was not appropriate.”

Authorities alleged McCullough continued to have improper contact with the girl even after reading an article in The Mercury about the illegality of such relationships.

“…was buying bagels and the front page of the Mercury is an article about harsher penalties for teacher/student trysts (then it added coaches, too). I started thinking too much…,” McCullough, allegedly wrote to the girl in a private Facebook message on June 22, 2010, according to court documents.

The Mercury article that McCullough, a former English teacher at the high school, allegedly referenced outlined a legislative proposal by county lawmakers and prosecutors to increase penalties for those teachers and coaches who engage in sexual relationships with those under 18.

An investigation began in May 2012, when relatives of the girl reported to Lower Providence police that they discovered email, Facebook and text messages of a sexual nature that pointed to an improper relationship between McCullough and the girl while the girl was 17 and still a student at Methacton High School, according to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Providence Detective Michael Jackson.

During police interviews, the girl denied having any physical contact with McCullough before she turned 18. However, she admitted that she and McCullough did “talk dirty” to one another during private Facebook encounters while she was still 17.

At the time of McCullough’s arrest, Methacton School District officials released a statement from Superintendent Timothy J. Quinn who said, “The safety and well-being of our students is our primary concern at all times. The district moved quickly to place this individual on administrative leave and is cooperating fully with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office and the Lower Providence Police Department.”